He has famously kick-started the careers of Hollywood superstars by turning roles down himself.

But Al Pacino last night spoke of his knack for talent-spotting when he described casting the then unknown Jessica Chastain in a major new production of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome.

In a one-off evening at the Palladium talking about his life and work, the 73-year-old Scarface actor told how Chastain walked in to audition for the role of the biblical character who demands the head of John the Baptist.

Pacino said he and producer Robert Fox could not believe it when she began to read, adding: “It was as if we had both seen something we had never seen in our life before. It was stunning. It was like looking at a prodigy.”

He said she gave “a great performance” in the original stage run of the play in Los Angeles in 2006 and in the subsequent film, Wilde Salome, which will be released in Britain next year. Chastain went on to star in blockbuster movies including Zero Dark Thirty, about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Pacino admitted he had turned down many parts during his career and often wondered why afterwards. “I’m not a very good judge of what’s good,” he said. He laughed as compère Emma Freud listed a string of such roles including Bruce

Willis’s character in Die Hard — “I gave that boy a career” — and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. “Star Wars was mine for the taking but I didn’t understand the script,” Pacino said.

He compared himself to a rising star of today, Jennifer Lawrence, saying: “I was the one. Things came to me.”

The actor also revealed that Michelle Pfeiffer was a good kisser but difficult to work with, reminisced about his friend John Cazale falling for Meryl Streep, and discussed stopping drinking 25 years ago.

And he recounted how only Francis Ford Coppola wanted him for The Godfather — for which he met real members of the Mafia — and how close he came to being thrown off the film.

He pointed out that many of his early movies, such as Dog Day Afternoon about a gay bank robber, were made by big film studios whereas similar projects today were only made independently.

The evening concluded with a standing ovation from an audience which included Steven Berkoff, Beverley Knight and Mark Rylance. Some had paid as much as £500 for the event.

Dental nurse Katarina Godlova, 32, of Fulham, said: “You found out things that I didn’t know. He was such a showman and made everyone laugh.”

Actor Chris Crema, 18, of Surbiton, said: “He came across completely differently to what he’s like in his films, very down to earth, quite a charming guy.”

Rebecca Loads, 27, an admin assistant from Battersea, said it was a shame it had not lasted longer, adding: “It was just like sitting in his living room, it was just absolutely brilliant.”